Q1. How is the meter defined? (Jing Lin)
A1. As of October 21, 1983, a meter is defined as 1/299,792,458 of the distance light travels in a vacuum.
Reference: http://www.nist.gov/pml/div681/museum-timeline.cfm
Q2. How was the meter defined before 1983? (Jing Lin)
A2. It was defined as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the north pole, at sea level.
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metre
Q3. What is the meter compared to other measurements of length? (Jing Lin)
A3. 1 metre = 1.09 yards (to 2 decimal points) = 39.37 inches
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metre
Q4. What was the first definition of the meter? (Sarthak)
A4.10-7 or one ten-millionth of the length of the meridian through Paris from pole to the equator.(Off by 0.2 mm)
A1. As of October 21, 1983, a meter is defined as 1/299,792,458 of the distance light travels in a vacuum.
Reference: http://www.nist.gov/pml/div681/museum-timeline.cfm
Q2. How was the meter defined before 1983? (Jing Lin)
A2. It was defined as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the north pole, at sea level.
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metre
Q3. What is the meter compared to other measurements of length? (Jing Lin)
A3. 1 metre = 1.09 yards (to 2 decimal points) = 39.37 inches
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metre
Q4. What was the first definition of the meter? (Sarthak)
A4.10-7 or one ten-millionth of the length of the meridian through Paris from pole to the equator.(Off by 0.2 mm)
Source:
http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/meter.html
5. How is the metre compared to the mesurement feet? (Jun Wei)
A5: A metre is equals to 3.2808399 feet.
Source:
http://www.google.com.sg/intl/en/help/features.html#calculator
Q6 What is the origin of the word metre?
A6: It is derived from the greek word metron which means a measure.
Source:
http://www.france-property-and-information.com/metric-system-and-history.htm